Disclaimer: I do not own POTC, I am just borrowing them. Honest.

Chapter 3 – The Meeting

The tavern was only a mere two streets away and William figured that this might give him enough time to persuade his captain to consider carefully his options. He knew that once Jack had a rum or two inside him and with some careful talk from Barbossa and his two friends, if they in fact existed at all, well who knew what could happen? Jack was nobody's fool nor would he suffer them but he had a fondness for a sob story and it would not be out of character for him to take on a man down on his luck, based on a tale of woe alone.

Jack swaggered confidently down the street and William, although taller than his friend struggled to keep up.

"What's in your head Jack? You've gotta be careful man, once your in there and talkin' and drinkin' that fellow is goin' to put some sort of verbal spell on yeh…." William stopped abruptly as Jack suddenly whirled round and faced the larger man, his grin all but vanished from his face and his eyes beginning to flash dangerously. Jack's hands came up to his chin and he pressed them together, it was almost as if he did this to stop himself from using his them on another mission altogether, such as taking a swipe at his friend.

"William," he said, his voice lowered and quiet. "Do me a favour mate, I know it's difficult for you. Stop… this… bloody…. unnecessary concern, al'righ? If yeh cannot be with me, then PLEASE…" he gestured wildly with one arm to the buildings that lined the street, "Please find yeh'self something to amuse yourself with on this fine evening. A lady perhaps? Anythin'….. "

William scowled, not amused. With a wife at home, albeit in another country entirely, this was not an option. His shoulders dropped, he had seen Jack look like this before. Enough. He would make his decision alone, for the good of the crew and the good of the voyage. William Turner was Jack's friend, he was not however, his advisor. Jack noted the beaten look in William's eyes, and, satisfied he had made his point he turned and carried on walking. William waited a split second and followed him. He would not leave Jack Sparrow to recruit this man and his miscreants alone. And, as Jack strode down the street, hearing William's footsteps just behind him, he smiled to himself knowingly.

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It took a moment to locate Barbossa in the Tavern. Jack paused in the doorway to take in his surroundings as it took a couple of seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dim candlelight in there. There was no initial sign of the man. No sign in the main seating area where Jack and William had been sitting the night before. He flashed a quick look to the corner Barbossa had apparently frequented for at least the last three nights – no, not there either. Interesting. Perhaps he wasn't going to show up then. William appeared with two jugs of rum and Jack took his, looking around again and trying to decide where to sit. It was early, but already the Tavern was crowded and deafening. Not that Jack or William particularly noticed the noise, they were used to it.

And then Jack saw him. Barbossa. He was standing on the balcony of all places. Standing there, looking straight down at Jack and William, his face locked in a grimace. His arms outstretched, both his grimy, calloused hands rested on the wooden rail, what there was left of it and he was again wearing his large hat at an angle which kept most of his face in shadow. He wore the same clothes as the previous evening, not surprisingly and looked every inch the ghostly observer once more. Again, no one around the man interacted with him, nor was he jostled or pushed about which was standard issue for anyone in this tavern, at the very least due to the lack of space. He held an unspoken air about him which suggested that he was best left alone and not to be interfered with in any way.

Jack touched the front of his hat with two fingers and acknowledged Barbossa in a salute of sorts. He had already made the decision not to approach the man – better to let Barbossa come to him he felt. After all he was the Captain.

Jack crossed to a nearby table which leant badly against the wall, due to it missing a leg. As the wall had a sizeable dent in it, it held the table well. It had no doubt been much quicker to hack at the wall and solve the problem that way, rather than attempt to repair the piece of furniture. He remained casual and made small talk with William until a moment or so later, he looked up to find Barbossa standing over him. Despite his keeping a sharp eye on proceedings Jack hadn't seen him approach, the man could move like a damn phantom. This impressed Jack somewhat but in all honesty, it also made him incredibly edgy.

Barbossa took a seat opposite Jack, and put his feet up onto the table. He was confident and carried a completely different air about him that the man sitting almost cowering into his drink the night before. He had a half sneer on his face and his arms were folded across his chest as if he was assessing the situation himself. Jack glanced across at William who had a look on his face as if to say, "I don't much care for this….."

But Jack was not going to lose the upper hand. Oh no. "I've been thinkin' about your little proposition Barbossa, and I think it might be rather nice to take you along. You mentioned two friends….." Jack jumped and then frowned as two men appeared behind Barbossa. The first, a small rotund gent balding on top but with long hair down his back, he had an evil glare about him and his eyes were almost yellow. His companion seemed a lot younger than he and taller, with short dirty blond hair and an eye patch. He grinned at Jack.

Barbossa gestured behind him without looking round. "Indeed. This 'ere is Pintel and Ragetti."

Jack eyed the newcomers with a raised eyebrow, "What happened to your eye?" he couldn't help asking.

Ragetti opened his mouth to answer but Barbossa beat him to it. "He had a little fallin' out with our last Captain ya might say, terrible business there."

Ragetti's hand flew up to his eye patch, "Terrible business." He muttered, echoing Barbossa's words.

"Sailed with Henry Morgan for ten years." Barbossa suddenly stated. That grabbed Jack's attention alright. Henry Morgan? "Just in case yeh' wanted to know of my experience."

Jack wasn't the only one to sit up and take notice of this statement. Three men nearby had overheard Barbossa and were now casually moving backwards away from the men as if Henry Morgan himself might appear in the doorway and draw his sword. Not a man to be messed with. Even other pirates were careful of Henry Morgan.

Jack shrugged. "I am supposing though Barbossa, that Henry Morgan has yet to obtain the heading for Isla de Muerta. Otherwise said Henry Morgan would have pilfered his way there already and would be in this very tavern or one like it, spending the treasure, now that would be my guess." Jack had played his card – he was not impressed with Barbossa's past. Not outwardly anyway. However his mind was working fast and he had decided that this fellow might be very handy to have around in a tight spot. Very handy indeed. And his two friends, although sadly lacking in the intelligence department were, none the less, two extra pairs of hands on the ship. Although exactly how useful young one eye would be, well, that would remain to be seen.

William watched the scene unfold with a feeling of dread rising from the very pit of his stomach. He had heard tales of Henry Morgan and his crew, he was probably the most feared pirate in the world. How on earth had Barbossa managed to survive ten years sailing under Morgan? But then, William silently surmised to himself, it would explain a lot about the way Barbossa was and how he looked. Weathered and beaten, the man had obviously seen a few things in his time. But what would Barbossa make of sailing under Captain Sparrow? He couldn't be more different to Morgan. William looked from one to the other. It was a worry alright. He looked again from Jack back to Barbossa and was suddenly aware that the man was staring right at him. He stared back.

"Bill, the man asked your name." Jack sighed and waved at William dismissively. "This here is Bootstrap Bill. Or just Bootstrap."

William looked at Jack, puzzled. Why had Jack used his nickname? Jack never called him Bootstrap, it was always William. He took a large swig from his rum and surveyed the men that he knew he would be working with on the voyage. Jack had made his decision, it was now for William to stand by it, God help them. Barbossa, William would never trust, there was evil in that man's eyes right enough. And what of the other two? Pintel looked as though he would go along with anything as long as it benefited himself – typical pirate there. The other one, Ragetti, just a young lad really. Only one eye, and so thin he looked as though a strong breeze could snuff him out. Well Jack liked to take along a crew that was, by tradition, slightly different from the norm and he had certainly managed that this time. William leaned in a little as the men huddled together and Jack discussed his plans.

"We set sail in two days. Every man an equal share in the treasure. What say you to that?" Barbossa nodded in agreement as Pintel and Ragetti just looked at each other and grinned.

"And the heading?" William looked on in interest at Barbossa's question. This was something he had not been able to get out of Jack at all, despite his trying on a few occasions. Would he give this up to Barbossa?

Jack smiled. Ah. Apparently not. "Not to worry about that little detail my friend. Tis' firmly fixed in my head and I will safely get us all there, or my name is not Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?"

Barbossa nodded again but his expression had changed, he was not pleased. "More drinks Pintel, if yeh please," he muttered to his friend. Pintel, who had been sharing some joke or other with Ragetti, immediately scurried off towards the bar.

Jack leaned forward over the table, "How did yeh know I was goin' to be here Barbossa? Yeh' knew almost before I did. And how did yeh come by the information that I was in fact in possession of any such headings to the island? Tis' an interesting tale I'm sure, care to share it with us fine gentlemen?"

Barbossa pulled his legs off the table and put them firmly on the floor, leaning forward to face Jack, there was no more than an inch between them.

"Well yeh' see Jack, that is an interesting line o' questioning right enough. Very well, I'll tell yeh, just so as yeh can be sure o' me honour." He looked towards William and then back to the captain. "I gather old Bootstrap ere' knows of how yeh got yeh' heading?"

Jack suddenly looked very uncomfortable and looked away from Barbossa, over to the bar and craned his neck, "Now where is that man with the rum? Eh? Bill, why don't you take Rag – Ragelli – Ragetti ere' and seek him out, or we'll all run dry." William stood up reluctantly and the young lad made to follow him. A shame. He had wrongly thought that he was trusted enough to know the full story, the story Barbossa was apparently going to learn, but he wasn't first mate aboard the Pearl and therefore he obviously wasn't going to learn anything he didn't need to know about. He nodded to Jack and moved away, Ragetti following him silently.

Jack gathered his thoughts quickly and peered quizzically into his mug which was just about empty. Then he looked up into Barbossa's cold eyes.

"I have somethin' in my possession which will tell me the heading. It doesn't matter how I came by it, truth be told. Its just important that we get there, savvy?"

Barbossa nodded and appeared thoughtful. "I don't know who gave yeh that trinket of which you speak Jack, but I do know who it belonged to before yeh. It belonged to The Brethren of the Coast. I daresay they would be interested to get it back. Thas' how I knew. Morgan told me 'imself e'did, just before throwing me off his bloody ship."

Jack knew that Henry Morgan was a member of The Brethren, a confederation of pirates who centred around Tortuga. They had set down the Pirate Code, which most ships followed on some level or other. I helped to keep things simple. Jack reached into his pocket and felt the compass, he felt a sudden need to make sure it was still there. It was. Jack smiled, of course he had known perfectly well whom the compass belonged to originally. What he didn't know was how Henry Morgan had come by the information that he had it now, considering he had bartered it from a soothsayer he knew rather well. But still, information was easy to come by if one was willing to pay for it. But it didn't matter. Morgan was not in these seas and if he was on his way to try and catch up with Jack, unlikely, he had no bearing with which to follow them.

"Oh' e' had no intention of going there Jack, jus' in case you was wonderin'." Barbossa said. "Morgan has no use for cursed gold. Don't need it."

"Stories, tales to frighten children…" Jack dismissed, waving his hands elaborately.

"Indeed. Well I guess we'll soon know eh? Ah…" Barbossa exclaimed, as the men returned with new jugs. He raised his towards Jack, "To the voyage?"

"To the voyage and to the Pearl." Jack replied, and clinked his jug against Barbossa's.

TBC